Finck's Cigar Company Danish Mild Cavendish

If you're a pipe smoker who enjoys old school American OTC's or MacB Golden Extra, then I think you're gonna really like this blend.

If you're not familiar with the Finck name, it a tobacco shop in San Antonio, TX, that is well known for it's house blend cigars and pipe tobaccos. Finck's alcso distributes to smoke shops through out Texas, and I got mine at my favorite little tobacco shop in Burleson, TX. (The Smoke Shack).

As far as their pipe tobaccos go, they are Finck's recipes but blended by Peter Stokkebye. This does not mean that these are rebranded Stokkebye blends. I've smoked a bunch of Stokkebye and Finck's blends, and I can say that they are different. Such is the case with Danish Mild Cavendish - Stokkebye really offers nothing like it, and if I was to describe it in one sentence or less I'd say that it is similar to MacB Golden Extra, but with Virginia leaf in it.

It's simple as simple can be: A basic VaBur with some Cavendish, and a honey-sweet flavoring added. There is something else in there as well, but I can't quite figure it out - kinda citrusy, but not quite. Another reviewer thought it was orange or orange blossom, and I guess that is just as good as any other descriptor that I could think of.

The base tobaccos harmonize quite nicely with one another, and the flavoring is added with a conservative hand. This creates a rarity in the aromatic genre: a blend where the flavoring compliments the base tobaccos, and it allows the smoker to discern the quality tobaccos used in the blend.

There is nothing complicated here, just a great all-day blend that delivers a wonderful smoke reminiscent of the great OTC's of yor... or just a really great Danish light Aro. (I don't think that the two are all that far apart. The room note is not sticky sweet, but it is pleasantly pipe like.

For those of you that are looking for nothing more than just a good bowl of tobacco, then I highly recommend this. Considering that it runs the same as a pouch of SWR, I think that it is probably one of the best tobacco values to be found in Texas.

If in general you despise aromatics, you won't like this. You would think the name would give it away. Oh well.

I like aromatics from time to time, and I think this is a fine blend, especially considering the price.

It is mostly Virginia, some burley, and a Cavendish flavored very much like candied orange zest. It tastes toasty, mildly sweet with a presence of orange blossoms. Being from Florida, this was very pleasant, and nostalgic in a bittersweet sense.

During the winters of 1982 and again in 1985, the citrus groves where I grew up were devastated by frost, pretty much marking the end for most of them.

The land was soon snapped up by developers, and sprouted trailer parks and retirement communities, in place of the majestic rows of orange and grapefruit trees.

So I like this very much. It smells good, tastes good, doesn't bite and costs very little. What more could you ask for?

I bought a 14oz bag of this during the "Try it free" period. All I paid was shipping and even that was too much.

Upon first light, it was the plainest, least enjoyable tobacco I could have imagined. Halfway down the bowl it was much worse. The longer I smoked it the more acrid and disgusting it became.

I now have 14oz (minus a couple of bowls) that I am going to play with flavoring if I don't throw it out first.

This appears to be almost all Virginias, with just a tiny bit of Burley to round it out. The bag aroma is excellent and the typical Danish toppings of honey and sugar really stand out. There is also a hint of what I can only describe as orange blossoms. The quality of tobacco is very good also. No sticks or stems in the pound bag... Fincks says this is one of the lightest aromatics they sell and it has to be, because it's like smoking air. No matter what pipe or how I puffed, it's a very neutral tobacco and the casings never really come out into the taste. The room aroma gets it, and the pipe keeps it, but the taste just stays natural. It has a bad tendency to heat up the bowl fast, and is best in thick walled pipes and large ones at that. There is minimal tongue bite from this blend and it burns to a very nice and fairly dry ash. Overall, it has all the makings of a decent style Danish Aromatic, but the total void of flavors keeps it from being a regular blend. Like I mentioned with the Finck's Value Blend Cavendish, I'm mainly using this to get the old tastes out of estate pipes that I want to swap to Mac Baren.